#19 - Frileux

Frileux in February!  In honor of this (hopefully) last month of winter, I'm going to mettre en honneur an appropriately chilly word: frileux.  It's a shame that the English language has no equivalent for it because it describes me perfectly.  I am always cold, especially in France where people keep their homes just a tad cooler than in the US.  By the time the house warms up enough that I feel comfortable, people start opening the windows!

Frileux means "sensitive to the cold," as in "Les personnes âgées sont souvent frileuses" ("Elderly people are often sensitive to the cold") (WordReference.com)--as well as polar bears invented by sadistic children's authors:

That's just too sad!  T_T

There is a second definition for frileux: "fearful, timid, [...] faint-hearted" (WordReference) or, my favorite, "skittish" (Linguee.fr).  

I find it amusing that the second meaning of frileux seems to pop up frequently in political articles:

"Néanmoins, certains États membres se montrent frileux dans leur engagement"
"Still some Member States appear to be reluctant in their commitment"

~ Concordeurope.org (as cited on Linguee.fr)

Though I disagree with that particular translation--"reluctant" is a very polite way of translating frileux (diplomatic, you might say).  Personally, I think it's more akin to the English phrase, "to get cold feet."

I think the best definitions and examples for frileux are to be found at LaRousse.fr:

• Qui témoigne d'une grande sensibilité au froid  ("Showing great sensitivity to cold")
  :Se glisser d'une manière frileuse sous son édredon.  ("Sliding in a frileuse manner under his duvet")
• Qui manifeste une réserve craintive à l'égard de tout événement ou action qui l'implique ("Showing a fearful reserve in regards to any event or action in which one is involved")
  : Garder une attitude frileuse en face du progrès scientifique
  ("Maintaining a frileuse attitude towards scientific progress")

The second definition of frileux is translatable enough--you could say "a fearful/skittish/wary attitude towards scientific progress"--but the first meaning?  I have no idea how I could describe "sliding in a frileuse manner under his duvet"--except perhaps to say, "sliding gratefully" or "sliding, shivering, under his duvet."  That might convey the general idea, but it's certainly not equivalent.  

~~~
One last thing that deserves a mention--apparently, there is also a word called "nesh": a slang word from the North of England.  I'd never heard it before, but it seems to run the gamut from:

• 1. sensitive to the cold; 2. timid, cowardly (Collins English Dictionary online)
• 1. soft, juicy, tender; 2. delicate, retiring; gentle, kindly; extremely fastidious or dainty; timid (Merriam-Webster online)
• 1. weak and delicate; feeble (OxfordDictionaries.com)

"Nesh" is a pretty cool word, and I like the sound and feel of it; but since it's so regional and most English-speakers wouldn't know it, I will maintain that there is no standard English equivalent for frileux.

We unfortunate frileux anglophones will just have to keep explaining that we "get cold easily."